New nurse with 1 year experience in med/surg. What’s the best way to move into the insurance or safety side of nursing? Most jobs want 3-5 years experience. How can I improve my resume right now to prepare to shift away from bedside?
A Registered Nurse with 1 year experience can get you hired by MCOs into an Insurance job. Most of them hire RNs with 1 -3 years experience. Check on indeed job posts and easily apply for good pay Managed Care Organization jobs.
Any education you can take that will improve your resume will be a good addition. Perhaps CEU with Patient safety focus. Internet search for requirements for a safety Position
Hi. Get to know your terms. OSHA is key. Go talk to to hiring Manger in person. 3 to 5 years tends to weed out many who apply on line. It is people who hire not computers. Employee health where you work can also be helpful experience.
Hi New Nurse. Based upon the information you provided, I feel my response is based on what you do not state. I feel that your resume may reveal something you have do that connects you to the role of a nurse in insurance or safety nursing practice. I reflect on your 1-year medical surgical experience and would advise exploring why you chose medical surgical nursing, what do you like, and what is it that makes you want to leave. If Nursing is your first career, you are on a learning curve, that is likely the reason for 3-5years experience requirement. Consider joining Nursing Professional association groups, local or National. Seek opportunities to learn about safety practices that improve patient care in your workplace, an asset to bring from the bedside and highlight that experience on your resume. To your Success, new Nurse. Thanks for asking.
Look for projects within the hospital that focus on safety. The med/surg units I have worked on had projects, assignments, committees, or Monthly Monitors that staff could participate in for betterment of the unit.
There were numerous committees such as the Skin-Wound Committee who evaluated records and identified area of concern and tracked issues like bed sores, POA (Present On Admission), verses hospital acquired.
The Infection Control Committee monitoring of CAUTI (Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections).
I was once on a committee that monitored hand hygiene, I kept count of # times when staff did or did not perform proper hand hygiene when entering or exiting a patient’s room.
1. Check with your unit’s Nurse Manager to see what committees, monitoring groups etc were available on your unit.
2. GO STRAIGHT TO THE SOURCE, INFECTION CONTROL DEPARTMENT, through proper chain of command of course.
If your unit Nurse Manager (NM) states your unit does Not have those committees or monitors, you have an additional option.
If you have seen something that is an “alert” and feel strongly needs to be addressed for patient and staff safety, ask NM what or how you can parlay your concerns into a monitor or project to address those concerns.
OR, if the aforementioned is not an issue, ask NM to whom you would need to speak in PATIENT SAFETY or INFECTION CONTROL to see what committee they may have that aligns with your passion for safety.
Reach out to those persons (Safety/Infection Control), make contact, let them know you want to learn more and possibly partake in their department projects, monitors, etc with hope of improving your unit and hospital system, & advance accordingly.
I Forgot, review your facility Policy & Procedures to learn how they want things done within your system. Often comparison of this to what you witness or don’t see happening, will be an “alert” for potential project/monitoring committee.
Also this gives you more insight into Patient Safety & Infection Control (their who what when & why data).
Once on a committee or monitoring team, (& even if you are not):
ALWAYS Keep a personal folder documenting each time you identified a Safety or Infection Control Concern,
your contribution to address the issue,
& the outcomes of said intervention.
Trust me when I say…when it’s your time to divulge this information for interviews, proficiency reviews, or resumes, YOU WILL NOT REMEMBER THE SPECIFICS, no matter how dramatic it seemed at the time of occurrence!
REASON: as nurses we see a problem, or potential problem, prevent or fix the problem, and go on to next task, intervention, or provision of care & assistance to patients, their family, & staff.
We are programmed to intervene for prevention or improvement, Not to “Toot our Horn.” Thus, we NEVER remember the “Outstanding “ things we do. You know, the things we just call work 🤓, aka, taking care of our patients , their families, & our colleagues.🤓
Have a Blessed & Awesome career !
#1 - keep up on and implement best practices so that you shine as a quality nurse and ask for letters of recommendation. This means looking for engaging CEU courses, and not just taking the fast/easy ones.
#2 - You should have or be working toward your bachelors degree, and if you already have that consider seeking a masters. There are different masters programs to consider (instead of seeking NP, maybe education in nursing).
#3 - talk to those who work in QA. Don’t just tell them you want to work in QA, but befriend them, network with them, and BE a high quality nurse. Do all that … then tell them you want to become a QA nurse.
Many employers will higher an internal applicant that fits 50% of what they are looking for with good letters of recommendation (or staff recommending you). When you have all that in your favor, and they know you work hard, you are more likely to get the job than someone with 3-5 yrs exp, no internal recommendations, and a masters degree.
Most employers will still higher you if you fit 75-80% of the job description. So if you have over a year experience and demonstrate good nursing practices, you have a better chance (but still get some letters of recommendation and other things to shine, to make up for the fewer years of experience).
begin to attend classes, webinars, and conferences on the area of nursing that you want to venture into. Take a per diem/part time/on call position for an area that you want to work in. Get some certificates in the area you want. Also, do some information interviews with managers who are over the area you want to work in so they can also tell you about the job and tell you too how to begin to prepare yourself for their positions. Soon you will have all this training under your education and it will be 3-5 years before you know it and you will be ready to move away from the bedside.
I year experience is definitely not enough to do case management or risk management.I would advise this nurse to stick it out in med surg to get at least 3 years under her belt.
My Hospital has a medical technician 13 years and Nursing management and administration 17
I would recommend pursuing a graduate degree in Nursing.
I find it best to speak to the manager about opportunities in those areas. Managers are always looking for volunteers to be on committees and team. That way you gain experience and network.
My advise is to transfer to an inpatient rehabilitation opportunity. This will prepare you for a position in OCC Med Case management and also provide your with the experience you will need to qualify for the CCM and Other Certifications that most states require for this type of work. There companies out there that will give you a year to complete your certification process. I would also contact the CCMC and obtain educational and testing information and begin your preparation as the exam may be daunting for those with limited experience. Finally find a mentor some one currently working in the role you are seeking.
I have mentored many in your position and some have been successful
in the process just be aware your time frame for getting to where you want to be is about 2 years if you follow this plan. I am a case management nurse in Occ. Med and have been so for 30 years. I have done both Field Case management and telephonic case management. 'I am currently working as Telephonic as I found my years as and FCM were less tolerable with age. Please feel free to reach out. [email protected]
See if you can move into the medical management or quality department where you work or look for a job doing utilization review. Medicare Medicaid experience is golden. You have the time at bedside to know your stuff, and there are a lot of jobs for you out there!
Get into the ER! You will be exposed to lots of things — in many cases, very similar to work-related injuries. It will be a great preparation for occupational health. Most occupational health positions will ask for ER experience. After that, you can apply at a prison or jail. That helps, too. A lot of occupational health positions will consider you if you have varied experience. Of course, any work with an insurance company helps also.
Before I went into Occupational Health, I had a lot of varied experience.
Today there are many large employers in the occupational health field that are willing to train you.
Become a case manager or work utilization review. Get certified in case management. You could also get a supervisor job.
It is not clear what area of insurance or safety you are interested in. Examples:
Insurance and reimbursement? Insurance and liability? Corporate liability? Quality improvement? Infection prevention and control? Healthcare ethics? Informatics? etc. There are numerous areas in nursing and healthcare that encompass the terms "insurance and safety". I suggest that while you are obtaining your necessary clinical experience you take continuing education courses or courses at your local college in the areas you are most interested in. Other things you might want to consider doing: shadow the hospital specialist whose position or department you are interested in joining; volunteering for a hospital committee; informing your supervisor or unit manager of your interest. Your unit manager, supervisor, specialist, or course instructor may help you focus your interest and sharpen your skills in that area of interest. Good luck.
Visit the Agency for Healthcare Quality & Research (AHRQ) website and review the topics within their site for Patient Safety. This agency is a wealth of knowledge on the topic of safety and can provide resources and information which can enhance your knowledge and begin to prepare you for a certification in patient safety. Contact your facility's Quality/Performance Improvement Department and Risk Management and ask them for an orientation to the projects, initiatives and facility goals in the areas of patient safety. These departments welcome individuals interested in promoting patient safety and ask how you can become involved.
You need to stay at the bedside for at least another year. Try a different department like Pre-Op/PACU, PAT where you are in assessments and doing care. Also ask your quality director if you can help her with any aspect of quality to learn about the quality and safety side. This will show initiative and growth in a short time :)
After interview you will know the knowledge/ skills she/he have.
